The morning run
by sezzyb
Summary: A kidnapping in the park, the BAU is sent to investigate will they be able to save the baby, and will one of there own get out alive? Please review
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

BAU unit leader Aaron Hotchner had just dropped Jack off at his sister in law, Jessica's House when the phone rang. He sighed knowing it would really only mean one thing. They had a case! He answered the phone, it was Strauss.

A missing child, 9 months old, likely kidnapping, less than 10 minutes' drive from where he was. The local police had arrived on scene, had verified the story and called an orange alert. Knowing time was critical with a kidnapping he rang the team. Reid was first on the subway, he agreed to stop off at the next stop, Morgan was out running with Clooney but agreed to pick up Reid on the way in. Rossi answered on the hands free having already started his commute in, Emily on the other hand hadn't even left her bed yet. But at least she answered unlike JJ who didn't answer her mobile. He rang the home line to discover she was out jogging but was expected home soon she was probably driving or out of signal Hotch decided. Will would forward the message and she would join them shortly. The rest of the team would meet him at the park with the exception of Garcia who would make her way to Quantico to start amassing data. The kid was high profile, and a high kidnapping target.

Hotch was first at the park. The police had cornered off the area but had only just arrived themselves.

Rossi arrived soon after, Hotch had just begun interviewing the local police. Rossi listened in. By the time the officer had told them the basics the rest of the team had arrived. Hotch filled them in.

"We have a missing 9 month old child. Last seen with a blond woman in her late 20's. They were walking this way the woman was bleeding. It is possible she is disorientated and hurt. It is possible this was part of a larger plot to kidnap the child. Franklin Daniel Proseticco the second is son of Ambassador Proseticco and his wife."

"Emily and Morgan interview the witness. Rossi I need you to head over to the parents, find out who has a grudge, brief them in case of a ransom demanded I'll have JJ meet you there. Reid and I will canvas the meeting site" Hotch ordered.

Emily took the lead in interviewing Ruth who was stood crying she knew if Franklin was harmed her life was over.

"Firstly have you got a recent photo" Morgan asked. Ruth handed over her phone showing them a photo of Franklin at the zoo. Morgan forwarded it to everyone on the team knowing Garcia would have it circulated in a heartbeat.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Emily questioned.

"I was out for my morning jog. I always bring Franklin before play group." Ruth began. "We were in the woods when we ran into the woman literally. Just over there, I didn't see her coming and she flew round the corner, tripped over the buggy and fell over and badly cut her leg. I gave her the pushchair to lean on and offered to drive her home" Ruth began sobbing. She paused to wipe the tears away.

"Can you tell me anything about this woman?" Emily pressed knowing an early release of the perpetrator made it harder to get away.

"Blond, slim, my height, it's funny we have nearly the same running gear, she has a son she didn't say his name. But she said her name" Ruth revealed

"What was her name!" Morgan asked, it was great to have a name even a first name it gave a starting point.

"Erm, something weird, I couldn't really hear" Ruth started to get worked up. "I didn't think it important to remember"

"Don't worry about that where did you last see them?" Emily pushed

"On the path 500 metres that way" Ruth pointed to where Hotch and Reid were walking.

"Did you see any cars parked there or vans anything?"

"No the car park was empty" Ruth was firm insistence on that "I saw nobody else or I would have asked them for help"

Emily and Morgan continued to question her but got no further.

Hotch and Reid walked the path. Even 100 metres away up the path you couldn't see the car.

"Perfect spot to abduct someone, park here and wait for them to pass" Hotch remarked as they walked to the second car park.

"Skid marks someone was in a hurry to leave" Reid pointed at the tyre treads. Then asked a local cop to ensure CSU took photos. He was sure for finding the child it would be too late but it would help in court. "There curves shaped the width indicates a van, there are 500,000 vans registered in a tri-state area. Only 300,000 of them have curvy pattern." Reid told Hotch

"There's blood" Hotch pointed at a trail of dark dots culminating in a bigger patch.

"So whoever took Franklin was bleeding" Hotch summarised.

"If there DNA is in the system maybe we will get a match" Reid offered, they both knew by then there was a good chance Franklin would be dead.

"There is more blood here did she wait for someone?" Hotch pondered, no answers were forthcoming, so they continued up the path to where they had met.

"This corner is totally blind, if you're both running you stand no chance of seeing them. There are signs someone slid down the slope then a blood trail that leads that way" Reid summarised.

"It takes skill to crash into someone knowing you won't hurt the child" Hotch noted. "Hit to hard and you're too injured to carry out an abduction. Don't hit hard enough and there is no need to help you. Seems like a bad plan"

"It's too clumsy. There are enough trees around and enough cover to easily separate Ruth and the baby" Hotch continued

"So it's likely the jogger was just an innocent party"

Morgan and Prentiss joined them relaying the story. Hotch filled them in on their side.

"It sounds like the jogger and Ruth have a lot of similar features. Maybe the kidnappers took her by mistake" Emily offered.

"We should put her into protective custody just in case" Morgan suggested.

"Let's run the scenario" Hotch ordered

Emily pretended to be Ruth while Morgan was the mystery runner. They stood either side of the walled corner where the pushchair had originally hit the runner.

"I can't see you" Emily called

"Nothing here, so our jogger had no way of knowing when Ruth was coming." Morgan summarised.

"The nearest car park is where the abduction happened, the only other car park is the other side of the park." Reid recalled.

A local uniformed officer approached.

"We accounted for all the cars parked except one." The cop told them

Morgan pulled out his phone, pulling up Garcia ready to run the plate.

"Garcia we need you to trace a plate. What's the license plate?" He asked. The cop looked at his notepad and read it.

"JJ!" Reid exclaimed horrified his identic memory pulling up that plate before Garcia could trace it.

Hotch returned interrupting Reid

"That was Will, JJ hasn't returned home yet he was wondering if she had come straight here"

"That license plate it belongs to JJ's car" Reid insisted. As the team collective put the pieces together

"Garcia check the GPS" Hotch ordered fearfully, she matched the description of the jogger to a T.

"Her car is parked in falls Valley Park and it hasn't moved in the last 2 hours." Garcia's voice reflected how they felt fearful, the sick feeling rising in their stomach as the facts confirmed what they knew already.

JJ was missing!

...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was early morning when JJ forced herself out if bed. Cold, dark and frosty she had promised herself she would do a run this morning no matter the weather. Quietly she dressed trying not to wake Will only to realise she had failed when she turned to find him watching her.

"You're crazy" he mumbled still half asleep.

"Sssh go back to sleep" JJ whispered kissing his temple. He did with surprisingly little resistance. JJ smiled Will really wasn't a morning person.

Next she checked on Henry her little baby boy was fast asleep curled into a ball surrounded by his teddies. Not wanting to wake him JJ left him asleep quietly exiting.

Grabbing the water bottle and her car keys she drove to the park. Not the local one but one a little further away. After working so many horrific cases she made sure she varied her route even if it meant driving there.

As she parked the sun was just starting to rise. Starting her stopwatch and making sure her phone recorded the route JJ set off. Headphones in, she paced herself going slightly slower than normal.

As she hit the woods she took a deep slug of her water and checked her time. She was lagging behind her normal time so sped up. Rounding a corner next to the coffee shop all of a sudden she was falling as something took out her foot. The momentum kept her moving even though she tried to stop. She tumbled down the slope landing painfully at the bottom.

JJ lay for a few seconds not moving as she catalogued the damage. Everything moved, it was just her leg that was bleeding slightly. As she went to sit up hands grabbed her.

"Oh God I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going" a young woman cried as she helped JJ to her feet.

"It's OK" JJ replied standing, she put her leg down and regretted it as a sharp pain shot up her leg. "It's just a graze" she insisted limping up the hill back to the path. A pushchair sat on the path JJ knew she must have hit it. Concerned about its occupant JJ looked inside to see a 16 month old little boy sleeping. His brown floppy locks covering his face.

"His name is Franklin, I'm his nanny Ruth" the girl explained brushing her blond hair out of the way.

"Hello Franklin, isn't he beautiful. I have a son a little bit older than him, I'm JJ" JJ replied still keeping the weight off her leg. She knew it was a bad cut, which would probably require stitches. She got out her phone to call Will but the screen had smashed. Ruth noticed it too.

"Please let me help clean your leg, my car it's only parked over here there's a first aid kit inside then I can drive you home plus my phone is there you can call whoever you want" Ruth begged guilty, JJ nodded, while she would prefer just going home she knew it would be a long walk.

"Thanks" JJ accepted the offer.

"Here use the pushchair it will take some of your weight off that leg" Ruth insisted. JJ did finding that by grasping the pushchair like one would a walking frame she could limp without putting her left foot to the floor.

"Your leg looks really bad, I think you might need stitches" Ruth broke the silence.

"'My car it's just up this path here. Not the first car park but the second by the play area. I'll run ahead and get the first aid kit ready and call an ambulance" Ruth suggested anxiously. JJ nodded her consent. In too much pain to argue. The cut was deeper than she first thought with blood dripping down her leg into her shoe. With a graze above and below the wound it made for nasty viewing. Probably why Ruth was so anxious to get help. Still JJ limped onwards hoping that Franklin didn't wake up.

As she neared the first car park she kept to the left side of the path as a jogger came towards her.

He passed her as a van pulled into the car park. From behind JJ felt a blinding pain, the van pulled up next to the unconscious woman loading her and the pushchair into it.

Ruth at her car took no notice of the van to busy ringing the ambulance. After hanging up and getting out the first aid kit she impatiently jogged back up the path to discover no sign of the mysterious woman or more worryingly her charge.

Horrified and panicking she reached for her phone calling 911 once again.

"Hello police please. I need to report a kidnapping"  
...…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rossi had just pulled up outside the Embassy when Hotch rang. Finding out JJ was the mystery jogger and was now injured spurred him on. Inside after going through security checks Franklin's parents sat waiting. Rossi sat opposite and explained the situation.

Mario and his wife Rosa sat devastated as Rossi finished the story of the abduction.

"The good news is by taking Franklin's nanny it tells us they want to keep him alive and calm. They might not know it's actually an FBI agent. If they ring you do not let on or they might panic kill both Agent Jareua and Franklin" Rossi informed them. They both nodded.

"Can you think who would want to abduct Franklin?"

"We have enemies, our government for one has upset many people by almost going bankrupt. Our families in Italy hold grudges if one generation offends you, take it out on the next." Mario explained.  
His wife shot him a look one that warned that he must co-operative further.

"We will write you a list "she ordered more than said. "Anything to get Franklin back"

It took a while as they composed the list. Ringing families, friends adding more and more names. After an hour they had a list of 250 individuals, who may have a grudge. It was a lot of names but it was a start.

Rossi used there fax machine to send the list to Garcia. The techs had installed the tracer line everything was ready. They just needed the contact. They needed to know if it was a kidnapping for money or something more sinister, and only time would tell.

…...

JJ slide across the van as they rounded the corner spinning out of the car park. She hissed as she hit the side of the van hard. Franklin was crying in her arms, the buggy he had been sleeping in moments ago was sitting empty at the back of the van. In the front were 2 unsubs with 2 in the back. Both armed, both well trained. She guessed they weren't after her but Franklin, she guessed they thought she was Ruth the nanny. She knew she had to keep them believing that in order to survive. It was going to be tough but she knew soon Will would worry, he would call the team and they would find her she just had to hang on.

Shifting Franklin on her shoulder she used the other arm to hold on and stop sliding. Then began trying to soothe him gently rocking him to sleep. The men watched carefully. JJ was relieved that they had kept masks on. It meant they had more chance of living.

Franklin settled as the van pulled up. Wordlessly one of the men grabbed Franklin off her. JJ tried to protest but was silenced by a gun being pointed at her neck.

"Stay silent" he warned his accent foreign. JJ nodded, the van doors opened, and JJ was ushered out. They were in a warehouse. JJ guessed it was deserted from the emptiness of the room. Ushering into a small room, Franklin was placed into a crib. They had obviously been planning this for some time. The room was built solid, with very little inside, just the crib and a chair. Looking round there was nothing that would help them escape at all.

"Stitch her up, I don't want her bleeding on the floor" one ordered leaving the room. Another followed coming back with a first aid kit. JJ tensed this was going to hurt a lot. They didn't look like the type of guys to use pain killers.

She was proved right when they shoved a leather strip into her mouth.

"Hold her down" the one with the first aid kit ordered. JJ attempted to fight but stood no chance. "Tighter" he ordered as he uncapped the whiskey. JJ bit down on a gag, screaming in pain as the whiskey hit her raw wound.

"Easy hold her still" he ordered digging in deep to clean the wound. JJ's whole leg was on fire. It was agonising pain, burning, shooting up her leg. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse she felt the needle dig in. He was stitching her leg. As the stinging settled JJ kept still fearful of her stitches ripping or the needle hitting something it shouldn't. After an agonising 30 minutes they were done. A bandage was wrapped around, the gag removed and they left. Franklin had been crying the whole time. Taking a few deep breaths, JJ tried to stop shaking. After a few minutes she managed to crawl to the cot to cuddle Franklin. He stopped crying as soon as she picked him up.

"There Franklin it's not so bad" she cooed. Rocking him gently his dark brown eyes watching her. "I don't think they want to kill us, I just think they want your daddy to pay lots of money." She reassured them both. Franklin said nothing. With the pain easing off. JJ began to explore the room. It appeared to be an old office, white in décor with plenty of plug sockets. The door was wood and JJ could hear the men outside so knew it was guarded.

There were no windows, no other doors, just 4 walls, a cot, a bed and a bunch of toys. Sighing JJ carefully placed Franklin on the floor getting out the toys that were in the nappy bag and setting up the play mat with blocks. Franklin squealed with joy sitting up and knocking them over.

It wasn't a lot but his enthusiasm helped as JJ lay on the mat and joined in. It helped pass the time and take her mind off the situation.

…...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The whole team had arrived at the house. Rossi had done a good job of informing them of what they needed to say. Emily and Morgan surveyed the outside of the property, Emily having grown up in Embassies knew how they worked.

"They took Franklin from the park no body guards, no security, means it's less likely to be an inside man. Everyone knows Embassies have flaws in security, especially in a 'safe country' in Rome I knew at least 10 ways to sneak out" Emily explained.

"I bet you were a hell raiser" Morgan observed grinning. Emily shot him a look half amused half irritated. Morgan got the message, "So they watched the nanny. Learnt the routine." He guessed.

"The morning walk normally took an hour, they were returning on time as the collided with JJ" Emily continued.

"So they don't return, the Embassy sends someone to look, they find the car then call the police. It buys them an extra hour maybe 2" Morgan guessed.

"They could be nearly anywhere in the state by now." Emily replied glumly.

"But we know there organised, we know there is more than 1 of them that they've been watching." Morgan pulled out his phone

"Hey my chocolate stud muffin" Garcia greeted.

"Hey Garcia I need you to work your magic" he asked,

"Oh my sugar God, I'm still trawling through the extra-long list of enemies but shoot"

"Can you pull up any cameras between the embassy and the park? Look for Ruth's vehicle and see if anyone was following or watching."

"Sure I'll get back to you"

With no more insights they headed inside. Where the phone was ringing.

"Hello Embassy, Ambassador speaking" Mario greeted.

"I have something of yours" A gravelly voice spoke,

"How is my son Franklin?" Mario asked, carefully trying to remember and follow the FBI's guidance

"He is fine, we want $10 million in unmarked bills, no tricks, no serial of notes, I will give you 6 hours then I will call again with instructions"

"I understand but I need please let me hear my son" Mario begged, he normally was above pleading but not when it came to his son. A scream of pain from an infant was hurt, followed by shouting, the team easily recognised it as JJ then sickeningly silence as both voices were silent. The gravelly voice laughed, then hung up.

Both Mario and Rosa were in bits as thoughts of Franklin being hurt, the team were just as badly upset at JJ being hurt.

"I need to get it sorted" Mario decided using it as a distraction. He made a few phone calls to get the money delivered.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was sometime later when the door slammed open. JJ reached for Franklin but he was ripped out of her arms roughly grabbed by his arm and dangled in the air. JJ protested

Franklin was crying, the man held the phone to his lips so they could hear him crying. JJ stood up to grab him back but was slapped hard across the face sending her spinning across the floor unconscious, Franklin was roughly dropped on the floor joining JJ in the abyss.

JJ came round to crying, Henry she thought alarmed. She instantly sat up rubbing her head instinctively as the room spun. A small dark office, this wasn't Kansas, the events of the day came back to her. Franklin was crying on the cold floor. JJ crawled over. Picking him up. His nappy was wet and his arm deformed. It looked broken. JJ found the nappy bag left by the kidnappers and changed his nappy. Baby food was also present in the supplies, so JJ fed him and cuddled him careful of his arm.

With nothing left to do but wait she sang to him and read stories just waiting for the kidnappers to return.

They did hours later.

"Put the kid down" they ordered. JJ hastened to obey placing the sleeping baby in the crib, fearful that if she didn't Franklin would get hurt again.

"Come here" JJ went over scared but knowing she had no choice, "Good girl" the grabbed her roughly, blindfolding her. Not being able to see was disorientating, she listened out for clues, tried to smell out anything that would give her a clue to where she was.

"Keep really still" A voice in her ear made her jump, she felt something heavy fit around her neck, a few bleeps and it sat there.

Another voice spoke, "good put the ear wig on her." JJ felt something fit into her ear.

"Right, we need you to get the ransom, around your neck is an explosive necklace. One wrong step and we blow you up, we take Franklin and we run. You are disposable, don't forget that, saying that you haven't seen our faces yet, once we get our money we will set you both free." he bargained not really giving JJ a choice,

"Fine"

"Good, get her in the van, we will drop you off and tell you where to go" He ordered. JJ felt herself roughly shoved into the van. The journey this time was worse than before blindfolded she was unable to predict where things would hit her by the time the van stopped she was battered and bruised. The van door opened, JJ felt herself pulled out, and the blindfold removed. A scarf was wrapped around her neck covering the bomb.

"Walk forwards," a voice in her ear instructed. JJ obeyed fearfully. "Turn here" she obeyed turning left recognising that she was in Washington's embassy area. She guessed Franklin was pretty important to somebody.

"The Italian Embassy are expecting you, go inside, do not talk to anyone," The voice in her ear instructed. JJ obeyed walking past the guards and the security checks normally done. She feared she was a suicide bomber that they would wait until she was inside before detonating her but to tell them that would definitely forfeit her and Franklin's life. The door of the embassy opened as she approached. "Do not say anything just open the holdall" the voice instructed. It was Rossi who had the door. They made eye contact neither saying anything. Rossi placed the holdall on the floor JJ bent over picking it up showing him the explosive collar as the scarf slipped. JJ opened the bag, "Check it for any dye packs" her earpiece instructed. JJ did as he asked tilting her head so Rossi could see her earpiece and holding up 4 fingers of her left hand as she searched the bag hoping he would click there were 4 unsubs.

"Good now pick up the bag" JJ zipped it back up lifting it onto her shoulder. Rossi nodded subtly to let JJ know he understood her message. "Walk out of the embassy." JJ carried the rather large heavy bag out of the embassy. Aware the FBI would be trying to trace where she was going so she walked slowly to give them time to track her. She had deliberately taken the tracking bug Rossi had put on top of the bag on seeing who it was slipping it into the inside of her palm as she lifted the bag she slipped it down her trousers. No explosion meant hopefully nobody had seen it.

"Turn left" he instructed. JJ obeyed seeing no white van she continued to walk.

"Stop" JJ stopped and waited as a van sped into the street. It paused the side door already open JJ felt herself roughly grabbed and thrown inside the bag of money snatched off her. As she hit the floor of the van it took off driving away.

This time to blindfolded JJ took stock, both men in the back of the van had their faces covered. Both average height, tanned skin, both focused on the money and not on JJ. Although she had checked it they were checking it twice as they transferred it to a second bag. JJ used the distraction to hide the tracker in a toolbox that kept slamming into her. She knew it was risky hiding it in the van but felt it was safer than having it on her. Hopefully her team would track it and find them.

They arrived at the warehouse, JJ was dragged out, the collar was removed and she was thrown back into the room. The door was then locked. JJ was relieved to see that Franklin was still asleep. Exhausted and emotionally wrought she sat next to him on the floor soon joining him in sleep.

Sometime later Franklin woke her crying, she changed him, and fed him some more baby food. She could hear nothing from outside, with it being over 12 hours since she had taken and she hadn't eaten since the night before she was taken. Desperately hungry she tucked into a jar of baby food. It wasn't great but she knew she might need the energy. There were only 3 jars left and JJ promised herself they were all for Franklin. She would just have to survive off her own body stores. Her team would find her she knew that, she just had to wait.

…...

At the embassy things had moved quickly after the phone call. Mario had quickly raised the money placing it into the black holdall. Rossi had supervised as he had put the money inside. Garcia tried to find anyone following Franklin on any of his outings but was having no luck. Emily and Morgan searched the house and interviewed staff, Reid continued to work on his geographical profile aided by Roberto head of security. Hotch worked on controlling the media who were starting to get wind of the story.

The phone cut into their work, it had rung early.

Everyone gathered around the phone. Mario answered

"Do you have the cash?" the gravelly voice asked.

"I do, it's here just like you asked." Mario reassured the man.

"Good, tell your security to open the front gate, my associate is coming in for the cash" the voice warned. Mario gave the order, "Now open the front door. Hand the bag to my friend, do not talk to her, any funny business and you will regret it deeply" The voice warned. Rossi got to the door first shocked when he saw a pale but bruised face. It was JJ! He knew he couldn't speak to her, they had been explicit in that. She was limping badly, her trousers torn, he could see crude stitches. He reached inside as she approached grabbing the holdall and a track able bug he palmed it off to JJ knowing she would know what to do with it. He watched her carefully as she indicated the earwig in her ear. It was how they were communicating with her. It meant they had eyes on her, she bent forwards, he fought to keep his expression neutral as she exposed a bomb strapped around her neck. It was clear these guys were playing hard ball. It only confirmed one thing, these guys were more than just kidnappers. She grabbed it flashing 4 fingers, he made eye contact indicating he understood.

The tracer was on the move, it stopped briefly at a warehouse, probably to pick up the boss then sped away down the highway.

"Let's go" Hotch ordered, "Garcia guide us in, and get swat there too"

The team left like a well-oiled machine each getting into one of the 2 SUV's. Hotch was driving one, Morgan the other. They sped off Garcia guiding them,

"There heading to a private airport, I've checked there is a private jet chartered to Africa leaving in an hour" Garcia informed the urgently. Both Morgan and Hotch put there foot down speeding up. It was really likely that JJ and Franklin were in that van heading to the plane. If they flew off it was unlikely they would catch them or ever get their beloved agent back.

They arrived at the airport the same time as swat. The plane was taxiing to the runway. They switched the sirens on driving in front of it forcing it to stop. The stairway came down and 5 men and a pilot emerged hands raised. Hotch ordered them to come down. While Hotch, Reid and Rossi secured them Morgan and Emily ran onto the plane, they searched it checking it was empty. It was with no sign of JJ or Franklin. Angry they left the plane. Morgan stormed up to the nearest guy

"Where are they" He yelled grabbing the guy's shirt

"Who?" the man replied smugly.

"Franklin and the nanny" Morgan yelled

"Nope not a clue"

Hotch interrupted, as the local PD arrived

"Take them to headquarters, separate cars" he ordered hiding his emotion behind his mask. Emily was already on the phone to Garcia.

"They aren't here, we need to search everything, properties in their names, credit card transactions anything" she directed before reading the names off the passport, Garcia promised to search and would get back to them.

Back at the FBI Hotch ordered each of the 5 men into a separate cell. Each member of the team was given an unsub with Reid taking the pilot. Hotch figured that Reid could easily determine if the flight path and times were plausible then try fit that into the geographical profile.

Hotch deliberately left himself with nobody he would supervise the interviews and help strategies. He gave Rossi the boss as he would be the hardest to crack but one of them had to JJ and Franklin were depending on it.

The interviews started, each one knowing they had to break them, they had to find out what they knew time was of the essence, 8 hours had passed since they had last seen JJ and if they didn't have water Franklin's situation was becoming dire.

Hours went passed, Reid had completed the profile he'd narrowed down the area as far as he could with the information given. All the men had remained silent. Garcia had found they were all linked to Italian Mafia, and all were wanted by Interpol. These guys were hardcore and it meant breaking them even for the BAU was hard. They had played almost every hand they had in different ways. Even Rossi who'd co-written the FBI handbook couldn't do it.

Defeated they met in the conference room, it had been 30 hours now. None of them had slept which had begun to show, wherever JJ was they were sure she wasn't sleeping but nevertheless Hotch ordered them all to have 6 hours sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the warehouse JJ had tried screaming, and crying, she had broken down the crib and tried using the wood to batter the door open, the door hadn't budged but one of her stitches had. Collapsing on the floor next to Franklin's mattress, he was crying with hunger, a dirty nappy and pain from his arm. JJ checked the nappy bag changing him, giving him another pot of baby food. He didn't settle she used some of the wooden slats from the bed to help splint his arm. It seemed to help the pain as the inquisitive toddler now desperate to explore.

JJ let him play keeping away from the corner she had used as a toilet by placing the remains of the cot around it. With no watch now it was impossible to tell how long it had been since her abduction. JJ knew Franklin could dehydrate quickly but without water there was little more she could do other than try to eke out the milk as long as she could. Her stomach gnawed and her throat burned with hunger and thirst. At least she hadn't needed the toilet again. Franklin was irritable as the tubs of food emptied. He began crying but with nothing to give there was nothing JJ could do to help, as his cries turned to whimpers. She comforted him as much as she could but without the vital nutrients he needed it was fruitless. As he drifted into a sleep JJ prayed her team would find them before it was too late.

Making the most of the opportunity she used the wood from the crib once again to mount her assault since the door wouldn't budge. Frustrated she began working on the wall. The lack of food and fluid made her feel weak but nevertheless she broken through the plaster easily only to find concrete cinder blocks, there was no way she would break through that with wood. Defeated and exhausted she leaned back against the wall, she knew her team would be looking she just had to keep them both going as long as she could, with a rapidly shortening time line.

Without any time references JJ had no way of knowing how long they had been in the room for. It felt like days, Franklin the happy little baby kept crying, his arm was sore, he was hungry and thirsty. It was a relief when he finally cried himself into an exhausted sleep, it meant JJ could join him as she curled protectively around his small frame desperately trying to keep him warm. They had to be coming soon JJ pleaded tearfully, her team they had to find her soon. There was no other option, Franklin needed water soon as he was rapidly dehydrating, and she was sure her leg was infected. Although she had left the bandage on the blood and puss oozing out was not promising neither was the permanent heat that she felt building up. At least it kept Franklin warm.

…...

With fresh eyes the team met back in the conference room.

"Let's recap" Hotch order, "From the start"

Garcia had slides prepared,

"At 0630 JJ and Franklin were taken, 0633 police received the phone call and were on scene 4 minutes afterwards, at 0900 the ransom call was received, at 1500 JJ came and collected the money. We tracked them to the airport"

"Wait, they stopped on the way to the airport" Reid yelled

"For 3 minutes, local PD checked it out, they found nothing" Rossi read the report

"So why stop I mean they had the money, they don't care about JJ or the kid yet somewhere on the way they disposed of her" Reid speculated.

"We need to visit that factory again" Rossi followed Reid's train of thought, "local PD might have missed something"

It didn't take much encouragement for the whole team including Garcia to run to the parking garage. Morgan drove one car Hotch the other as they raced to the warehouse. JJ had been gone for over 24 hours now. This had to be it!

They pulled up

"Stay here" Morgan ordered Garcia who nodded fearfully. They all pulled out their guns entering the building, the warehouse was full of boxes, nooks and crannies. Plenty of places to hide people.

"Split up" Hotch ordered. They did searching high and low, every inch of the warehouse was searched but to no avail. Upstairs they had found various office rooms but they were all empty.

"She isn't here" Rossi sighed after 30 minutes of searching. Defeated they returned to the trucks only to notice the absence of one very brightly colourful Penelope Garcia.

"Damn it" Morgan swore under his breath "Where is she" he questioned.

"Split up again" Hotch ordered, the team separated each going their own way.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Garcia sat in the SUV with the window open listening to any sign the team was in trouble or that they had found JJ. Checking her watch she noted it had only been 10 minutes since they had gone. She sighed, this was the worse bit.

Then she heard something other than the drone of traffic and the teams yelling. A baby crying. Franklin it had to be. Without thinking she climbed out of the truck she went to alert the team but they were too far away and she didn't want to lose the sound. She followed it, it was so faint she even held her breath to make sure she could pinpoint it correctly. It was coming from a concrete cement wall in a factory next to where the cars were parked. Curiously she walked around following the wall to where she found a door.

She knew Morgan was going to yell at her a lot for this but she had to know if this was JJ and Franklin and there was no time to wait.

Entering the warehouse it was empty except for a blocked off area, it looked like it had once been an office. The door was barred with wood and had huge locks on it. Garcia wasted no time in trying to budge the wood. The first few tries it didn't move but with a groan it fell to the floor. She then began to work on the locks. The thick metal door gave no secrets away as to what it was hiding behind it but Garcia just knew JJ was there. She had all but one lock done, this one needed a key but it was missing. She groaned so close but yet she had failed at the last hurdle she just needed something to pick the lock with. A brief search of the surrounding area lead to nothing useful to break the lock. A stroke of genius hit her as she removed her bra wire. Using that as a makeshift lock pick with a click the door opened.

The first thing that hit her was the smell. Human excrement and dirty nappies had built up a rather unpleasant odour. After getting used to it she checked the room

"JJ" she exclaimed running over her friend was protectively curled around Franklin. Neither of them moved as she approached.

"Jayje" Garcia called again hoping she wasn't too late, touching her friends shoulder this time she stirred

"Water, he needs water" she croaked. Ever prepared Garcia always carried a water bottle in her large handbag. She opened it glad it was full. Carefully she lifted Franklin glad when he whimpered slightly. She began trickling the water in as slowly as possible he began suckling it in.

"He is drinking it JJ" Garcia shrieked happily. JJ smiled weakly, she was desperate for water to but Franklin came first. Garcia gave him about a fifth of the bottle before stopping, as soon as she did he began crying.

"Careful of his arm its broken" JJ called from her position on the floor.

"Oh you poor thing," Garcia cooed passing JJ the rest of the bottle. Greedily she drank the remaining water, now that help was immanent she didn't feel guilty for drinking the water.

"Where is the team?" JJ asked, after all she was really grateful Garcia was here but out of everyone she expected to find her Garcia wasn't the one to heroically break the door down.

"They're searching the wrong factory, I was sitting in the car and I heard Franklin crying" Garcia explained well aware the team would be rather angry.

"Franklin hasn't cried, not for ages," JJ replied puzzled. Garcia shrugged she knew what she had heard. Nevertheless she wanted out of here. "Can you walk?" She asked. JJ nodded not entirely sure that she could but desperate to leave the room that had been his prison.

Using the wall to help her to her feet she deliberately kept the weight off her bad leg. Testing it she cried out with pain as her leg touched the floor. It was agony,

"Gah" she cried out involuntarily collapsing back on the floor

"Jayje" her friend was there in a heartbeat.

"Its fine, it's just my leg is a little sore" she confessed.

"OK put your arm around me help take some weight off it" Garcia planned JJ nodded slinging her arm around her. Together they began limping towards the door.

As they neared the door to the warehouse it swung open the shock caused JJ to collapse to the floor as the rest of the BAU team came in pointing their guns at them.

"Don't shoot" Garcia yelled unable to hold her arms up as Franklin occupied them.

"Garcia" Morgan dropped his weapon first storming over.

"Sorry but I found them" it was only a half apology but it was something that could be discussed later.

"JJ" Reid was next to her.

"Spence, I knew you'd find me" JJ called from the floor. The young genius nodded his head, as Morgan easily lifted her up.

"I can walk" she protested

"I know" Morgan replied easily, "Just let me do this, you know how baby girl likes how my biceps look hot when carrying things" he joked. JJ rolled her eyes.

"We have an ambulance on its way" Rossi reported.

"I'm fine" JJ informed them aware she was lying,

"We have to take Franklin in anyway" Emily persuaded aware her friend looked like crap. JJ nodded her consent unwilling to leave him alone.

"Fine," she muttered still in Derek's arms as Hotch directed the ambulance. It pulled up the EMTs splitting up one taking Franklin out of Garcia's arms and straight into the truck. Morgan set JJ on the ground the tech began taking vitals as a second ambulance pulled up. The first tech with JJ quickly handed her over to the second crew before turning his focus onto Franklin

"We need to go" he said, climbing into the front. Emily joined them sitting in the front. JJ was loaded into the second ambulance they started the drip giving her body much needed hydration. They also placed a heavy duty bandage around her leg. Hotch climbed into the ambulance, the team followed behind.

As Morgan drove Rossi made the call to the Ambassador, they promised to meet them at the hospital. At the same time Reid notified Will. They lost the ambulance in traffic. They pulled up at the same time as the Ambassadors.

"Where is he?" Rosa asked not even waiting for the body guards

"Inside, Agent Prentiss went with him" Rossi explained. They all rushed inside they spotted Hotch first

"JJ is in X-ray, Franklin is in pead resus," Hotch pointed to where he had last seen Emily, Mario and Rosa nodded there thanks as they quickly departed to where Hotch had pointed.

Inside Emily stood to one side as numerous medical staff worked on him. He looked pale and it was clear he was very sick. On seeing him Rosa immediately cried one of the nurses came over.

"You must be the parents we were told to expect you." she took them to one side but making sure they could still see Franklin. "He is very dehydrated. We are giving him fluids tailored to his weight and he is responding well. We have sent blood off to check for kidney damage we will know a lot more once that comes back" She explained.

"When we will know?" Mario demanded to know

"In about an hour, for the moment if you come over here and speak to him it will help soothe him" they didn't need to asked twice as they took their places next to him.

Emily stepped out respectfully taking her place in the waiting room. They saw JJ being wheeled past, they went to follow but a nurse cut them off.

"We need the doctor to assess her now just wait here" the nurse instructed. They sat down reluctantly. Will and Henry joined them about 10 minutes later, Hotch updated him as Spencer and Garcia played with Henry.

After an hour the same nurse came out

"We are taking Miss Jareau to theatre, she has sepsis stemming from a poorly cleaned and stitched wound on her leg. She needs it washing out and stitching properly." the nurse explained. "Were also giving her some high dose antibiotics"

"When can we see her?" Will asked worriedly

"As soon as she is out of recovery" the nurse explained. "I suggest you go and get a cup of coffee, she'll be in theatre for at least 2 hours".

The team nodded knowing there was no point waiting in the waiting room. Instead Will gave the nurse his number asking her to ring him once she was out. The canteen was the last place anyone wanted to be but the coffee was drinkable.

Spencer treated Henry to nuggets and chips, as Rossi brought the team coffee and cake. Nobody was hungry but it was important to eat.

They sat passing the time mostly by either entertaining Henry or quietly filling in details of the case with Will. After 90minutes the phone rang.

"Hello this is Lucy Jennifer's Nurse, I just wanted to say she is out of surgery and heading to recovery, the operation went well, and she will be in room 706 in about 45 minutes. We allow 2 visitors in at a time"

She hung up, Will put the phone down with a smile,

"She is ok," he confirmed everyone sighed with relief. "We can go and see her in 45minutes" he revealed

"You and Garcia should go with Henry" Morgan decided looking at the sleepy boy, "That way he can see his mom and she can take him home" They'd already planned that Garcia would have Henry today and Hotch would watch him tomorrow on a play date with Jack.

The 45 minutes dragged they ended up wondering to the room slightly early. JJ was already there in bed. An oxygen mask lay over her face, a drip running into a cannula in her left arm. She was wearing a hospital gown, her leg lay covered in the blanket elevated off the bed.

"Momma" Henry yelled Garcia placed him on the bed carefully so he could hug her. JJ woke

"My baby star" she whispered raising her arm to cuddle him. She smiled at Will who took her other arm

"How you feeling?" he asked kissing her cheek

"Drugged" JJ replied her mind fuzzy. "Is Franklin okay?" she asked, Garcia nodded

"He is fine, they've rehydrated him, they are keeping him overnight to observe but there should be no long term lasting damage" Garcia reassured. JJ smiled.

"Momma did you get the baddies?" Henry asked, JJ looked to Garcia having no idea if the men were in jail or not.

"Course she did, all 4 of them" Will reassured her.

"Yay Momma" Henry cheered. They all smiled, "Love you baby star, love you Will" JJ whispered, squeezing his hand before going back to sleep.

"Come on Henry let's leave Momma to sleep" Garcia grabbed him, he kissed JJ gently on the cheek.

"Bye Momma" Henry whispered before leaving. Will stayed his hand encased in hers as she slept. Hotch popped his head in, on seeing she was sleeping he waved and left, nobody else came. Will assumed correctly that Hotch had ordered them home.

The next day JJ was much more awake, she'd had another dose of intravenous antibiotics and Will had stayed overnight. While the nurses helped JJ to dress he stepped out to make sure Henry was okay.

He arrived back in time to meet the ward round. The doctors were already in his wives room having taken down the bandages and were inspected the wound. Will came in quietly viewing JJ's newest scar. It was 5inches long neatly sutured a large graze surrounding it. It looked red and angry, pus having oozed out and was evident of the dressing.

"Hey Will" JJ spotted him behind the doctors inviting him to come sit by her side.

"Hey babe"

"Mr Jareau" the Doctor greeted, neither JJ nor Will bothered to correct him. It wasn't the first time someone had called them by the wrong surname. "Your wives wound is infected which we will treat with antibiotics. She'll need to keep the weight off it so the physio will pop down with some crutches. We need to give a few more doses of intravenous antibiotics so hopefully if the wound improves we can send you home tomorrow" the doctor explained. JJ nodded as they left.

"I've got to pop home, pick up some clean clothes can I grab you anything" Will apologised, JJ nodded in understanding. She grabbed a pen and paper writing a short list, stuff like the book she was currently reading and underwear. Just as Will was leaving Spencer arrived.

"Spence" JJ greeted, "Good timing," she glared at Will suspiciously, he smiled not denying the unspoken acquisition that he had planned this.

"Hey JJ," Spencer sat down, Will left the two best friends to it.

"Spence, how are you?"

"Fine, what did the doctors say?" Reid asked, JJ gave him the cliff notes smiling as Reid began spouting off statistics on infections. JJ smiled Reid never changed, she just hope he wasn't offended if she closed her eyes and listened.

Her eyes opened again Reid was gone instead Emily sat by her bed reading.

"What happened to Reid?" JJ asked, having only blinked or at least that was what it appeared.

"He went home. Will popped by, he has gone to collect Henry so Morgan and I thought we'd visit" Emily explained

"How long was I asleep for?" JJ asked confused

"A few hours" Emily checked her watch,

"Where's Morgan?" JJ asked, looking around the small hospital room, Emily grinned. JJ frowned having just woken up her head felt to fuzzy for riddles. She sat up rubbing her eyes. "Pass my crutches please" she asked hobbling to the toilet Emily close behind just in case she fell. While she was in there the door to her room opened. Figuring it was the nurse she took her time in the bathroom, cleaning her teeth, brushing her hair and trying to cover some of the worst bruises with make up on her face.

Crutches in each hand she hobbled out.

"Franklin" she cried with joy, hobbling over to the bed quickly so she could have a cuddle. Rosa placed her son carefully into his saviour's arms, "he is okay right?" JJ checked with his parents. They both nodded.

"He is fine, thank you so much" Mario shook her hand, "without you he would have died,"

"It was nothing" JJ's modesty naturally came out "he is a very easy baby to look after"

Franklin woke up fussing, JJ handed him back to Rosa, "He is probably hungry we should take him back" she apologised, JJ nodded understanding.

"If we can ever do anything to pay you back" Mario offered, JJ smiled,

"Just seeing Franklin healthy is enough" JJ promised waving goodbye to the little boy. She knew it would be a long slog of physio and antibiotics to get better, then the joys of the FBI's psychologist to endure, the trial wasn't going to be fun. Yet seeing the smiling face of Franklin it was all worth it was why they did the job, its why they would never give up.

 _By my timeline it was about 50hours in total JJ and Franklin were gone, the wound was a deep puncture wound and laceration that wasn't properly cleaned and worse still was poorly closed and stitched introducing more foreign bodies into to it. Nasty. Having been done on wood and metal it would be a 'dirty' wound. Infection would slowly set in over the next few hours, in 24-36 hours it would be entering the blood stream, causing high temps, this would cause the dehydration quicker than what you would expect in a healthy adult. Franklin being a baby would start getting dehydrating super quick as babies have very little reserve. That's why there was a small supply of water in the baby bag._


End file.
